Mystery Agent Winners and Reveal!!!

Please welcome our Mystery Agent.............

Carrie Pestritto of The Prospect Agency

Carrie has chosen 2 first place winners and 2 runners up!! So, without further ado, the 2 first place winners, who each get a full manuscript request are:

Kate L. Mary with her NA Romantic Mystery COLLISION

and

Kara Reynolds with her NA Contemporary Romance LOVE AND THE BARD

Carrie would like to see the first 100 pages from:

Ashley Walker with her Upper Middle Grade Adventure ONCE UPON A TIGER

and

Kim Van Sickler

Congrats ladies!! Please email us at operationawesome6 (at) gmail (dot) com and we'll give you the deets on submitting your material.

Carrie was kind enough to answer a few questions for us as well :)

OA: If you could pick any book that every writer should read, what would it be and why? 

CP: That is such an impossible question!! I have never universally recommended one book: what I prescribe depends on your genre and your story. I have recommended books like Kiera Cass's THE SELECTION, Margaret Mitchell's GONE WITH THE WIND, Alexandra David's Neels THE SECRET LIVES OF ALTAR BOYS as "homework" for some of my authors. I do think that is very important for you to read within your genre, especially any books that are similar to yours. You can see what that author does successfully, what they do that you like or don't like, and so on to create an awareness of your own writing style and what you need to do to improve/hone it. But if I were just to recommend a book just because I love it, one of my all-time favorites is Dodie Smith's I CAPTURE THE CASTLE. My mom gave it to me when I was in middle school and I have re-read it dozens of times over the years.

OA: Do you have any tips for writers struggling with their pitches?

CP: Think of writing your pitch as though you were writing the jacket flap for your book. You don't have to summarize the entire story - just give me enough to whet my appetite and get me eager to read your sample chapters! Also, if you have a platform, have won any writing awards/contests, or have relevant background of any kind make sure to let me know! Those are all big bonus points (but it also doesn't count against you if you don't have any of those yet).

OA: Is there anything specific you are just dying to get your hands on? 

CP: You can look at my profile on Google+, where I list projects I'd love to see with the hashtag #BooksImLookingFor.

OA: Do you have any exciting client/agency news you can share? 

CP: Yes! I will soon have my first book published! And by "I," I mean my author Dan Newman. Keep your eye out for his thriller, THE CLEARING, which pubs November 7th.

OA: And a few just for fun: 

Coffee or Tea? Coffee when I need the energy; tea when I want to be fancy.
Sea or mountains? Definitely the mountains. I love being around trees (which makes my move to New York kind of funny) and I love to hike.
Chocolate or bacon? Ummm both! I'm actually pretty sure that there is such a thing as chocolate covered bacon.
Ebook or print book? PRINT BOOK. I love being able to hold books as I read them and the main decorative feature of my room is stacks of books piled everywhere.
Favorite tv show? My boyfriend teases me endlessly about this, but my favorite TV show is True Blood.

Oh, we are huge fans of Le Skarsgard around here so she doesn't have to tell us about True Blood ;)

Thanks so much Carrie, and for everyone who participated this month!!

For more information on Carrie and what she'd like to see, you can visit her Google+ profile, her blog, or her agency's website.